Knees buried to the ground. Heads lowered before the swords planted on the grave. Hands clasped as their lips spoke of farewells to the departed. Gentle breeze passed them in silence as if the Heaven had joined their prayers. Luther burned the scene deep into her memory. Ten men fell under his command. A scar he’ll bear for the rest of his life.

  When the breeze ruffled his brown hair, it tickled his nose. A soft humming caught his attention. He turned to the sound belonged to the Wrath. She stood before the same battle where blood had spilled. Deep crimson eyes sunk along with the blood pooled around her. Together, they melded into the same color of death.

  He strode to her side, darting his gaze back to the knights. Her humming pulled some of their attention, stopping their prayers. Eyes burned at the sinner now singing to their loss. Luther pulled her around and tapped his lips.

  Lost in his silence, she only stared at him. Luther pressed a finger to his lips. In that instant, her eyes widened in realization. “Pardon my manner. You weren’t supposed to sing during a funeral. It’s a habit of ours, the sinner.”

  Luther glared at her in response. Singing was supposed to be only for celebration of joy and happiness. What’s the joy of singing at this kind of event? It doesn’t matter if it was merely playing a flute or humming. Performing such an act during a time of mourning was a sign of disrespect.

  “I apologize for my carelessness, didn’t I? Eased your anger,” Wrath sighed, “The Sinners don’t particularly like being under the gloomy clouds. No matter where we go, it always follows us. Instead of dwelling onto it, we found our own way to find the little peace we can savor.”

  Luther cast his eyes to the side. He pointed at the tree nearby, telling her to wait there. Wrath simply gave a small smile and departed her ways from the remnants of the battle. Soft rustling of shoes approached him. Luther turned to meet his two knights. A twisted glare settled on Hartwin’s face while Vincent threw worried glances at the departed sinner.

  “Captain, you need to tell us the detail of the will. Is it related to the sinner?” Hartwin pressed on the details as he barely hide the fury in his tone. Luther can’t blame him for his disappointment.

  As the silence dragged on, Vincent begged, clutching his captain’s arm, “Don’t carry the burden of the Heaven by yourself. Your knights are here for you.”

  Luther avoided meeting their eyes. If he looked at them now, he’ll only remembered the buried lifeless eyes of his knights. He took out a warped and battered leather-bound book. Creases visible across the spine after being shoved into a small space inside his satchel. Pages folded as he was in a hurry to pack up during the departure. At the start, old notes written in a neat, long cursive of a long conversation. A peaceful, mundane life blurred and faded into the past. As the pages turned over, the notes cut shorter with a restless hand. He could barely recognize the distorted letters.

  He opened to the new clean page. His hand stopped on top of the blank page. Memories of those last conversations he had with the deceased were still present in this book. Will this also be his last talk with his two trusted knights?

  Hartwin sighed at his hesitation. “A Heaven’s will is your burden to carry. You are one of the mankind chosen by the God. We are your knights who choose you as our light to follow. Whatever burden you carry now, we’ll help carry you until the end of that duty.“ He took the book away gently from Luther’s hand. “You don’t have to tell us if you can’t. Forgive for my outburst.“ The knight dipped his head down to a bow.

  “Though I wish you could give us a hint. We can’t help you if we have no clue of where are we walking through this darkness,“ added Vincent. “Right now, let’s just focus on getting your miracle prayer back. If the Heaven commanded a will related to the sinner, countless life will be claimed than it is today.”

  Luther quietly watched the two knights before him. The Heaven’s will he once held as an honor for his people now turned into shackles, choking him from opening up. One wrong move. They’ll be dragged into his mistake. Until he found out what the will meant, he’ll keep them out.

  # # #

  As darkness swallowed the daylight, they huddled close against the hushed cold air. Bodies twisted and turned. Eyes stare blankly at the fire as silence blanketed over them. Though they were exhausted, sleep wouldn’t come to them. Ethel watched them from a distance. It was the closest contact she’ll ever be with them, with no swords clashing to her neck. An invisible high wall blocked them from seeing each other eye to eye. Her hands remained cuff in chains with bells strung over it. A futile effort, but she complied with the luminary.

  Stolen story; please report.

  A whisper of the wind pulled her attention to the pitch black forest. Blood-red eyes glowed in the abyss. Lowlife dwellers of the night eyed on the souls of restless knights. A shapeless and formless shadow taking the twisted form of another life. She glared, warning them to stay far away without a word. They cowered away back. The knights had enough loss today. She rather not have the journey delay any further.

  The soft tinkle of bells drew her attention. The young luminary stopped in front of her. “To what do I owe the pleasure of the luminary to see me tonight?”

  Luther kneeled down, grabbing her arm. Ethel narrowed her eyes at the small bell strung in the silver chain as he tied it around her wrist. Surely the mortal wasn’t planning to put a jewelry on a sinner. While his fingers busied, she noticed a strange scar running across on his arm, hidden underneath his long sleeve. Before she can inspect closer, Luther retracted his hands away. Then, a ringing bell resonated from her arm to the entire body. She flinched at the tugging peal, placing a hand on her chest where a heart would beat if she ever had one.

  She never felt a foreign feeling inside her empty vessel. A soft knocking to the home of spirit. She once held a dying mortal. Her hand on their wrist as the melody of their spirit slowly faded into silence.

  “Was it you who chased those dwellers away just now?” A sharp and unwavering voice resounded inside her head.

  Ethel looked around. There was nobody except the muted luminary in front of her. She stared at Luther in awed. “Is this your doing?”

  “Answer my question.”

  His lips remained shut in a white bandage, yet his voice found its way connecting to her. She glanced down at the small bell strung on her wrist. She chuckled at the small trinket. “I never seen such a miracle. You’re truly what they called as the Voice of the Heaven.” The frown on his face deepened as she delayed further on answering his question. “Yes, I did.”

  “Why?”

  Ethel raised eyebrows at his question.

  “Why are you protecting us? You could have killed us. Is this some game for you? Playing with their life as you wish.” His voice rang louder.

  Streak of blood flowed out from her ears. Ethel shook her head slowly, feeling a little disoriented by the ringing of his voice. “I only wanted to see the Justice as quickly as we can.”

  “Offering your head to death this easily. Why don’t you just run away and hide in the darkness?”

  “No matter where I go, the light always finds me.“ She tucked her crossed legs closer. “I’ve walked these lands for more than thousands of years. More than your forefathers ever did. Fate kept repeating in the same loop. Rebirth, run, and died. That was all I ever knew. All of my memories soak in blood. Stars used to fill the night sky. Now every time I returned to the living, more have faded, as if the abyss had swallowed them.”

  Ethel gazed at the blank black canvas above her head. The night used to be a beautiful canvas. People don’t need torches to find their way through the darkness as the starlight guided them. Now, not even a fire can protect them from the abyss lurking outside their homes.

  A cold metal blade touched her neck. The anger in Luther boiled at every word she uttered. What did she expect him to react? Forgive her on everyone's behalf. “War is coming to you.”

  “And it’s a war your kin started,” his voice grated.

  “We never wanted this war.”

  “Why warned me then?”

  “Meaningless deaths give me no satisfaction. You may decide my words as a lie or truth if you just listen—”

  “I need nothing from a sinner.”

  An exasperated sighed left Ethel. “Then it’s your war now. Whatever happens in the future, it won’t matter to me, as I won’t be there to be a witness.” She averted her eyes away. A replied she expected from him. It was a waste of time to try talking when none of them bother to listen.

  “Leave as you wish while you can. Don’t touch these men as they have their own promises to return to their homes. If it’s a soul you seek, take mine instead.“ Luther loosened the cuff on her hands.

  When the cuff slipped out, she caught it in her hand. “You would release a sinner just like that.“

  “Your life was never mine to take. Justice and Valor will judge you instead.“ Luther turned away. The wall between them grew taller, making it harder for her to climb over. Their distance going further apart for her to run closer. Now she’s just tired of being the only one who tried to make a change of this fate. As Luther leave, Ethel gave her last piece of thought to the mortal. “It’s a pity the sky will be lonely without its companions for the next five hundred years. I hoped the sun won’t be next.”